writer, editor & phd candidate

I loved this book when I first read it (for school) in year ten. But I got so much more out of it as an adult. In a way, it almost seems wrong for it to be such common set reading in schools, because I think that we all end up reading it before we have the capacity, life experience and empathy to fully appreciate just what an incredible piece of literature it is.

Of course, the downside to re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird as an adult is the fact that it’s extremely difficult to read. Because, as a teen, you can live in your own little world and write the prejudices shown in the book off as something belonging to the oh-so-distant 1930s while, as an adult, it’s very obvious that humans are just as capable of perpetrating abhorrent acts of bigotry and injustice today.

A powerful book, made all the more so by the juxtaposition of the innocence of its protagonist and the reality of the world around her.